


School of Tears

by NaraMerald



Series: Bangtan Sonyeodan [4]
Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Always a girl! Jin, Always a girl! Suga, Always a girl! V, Angst, Block B Thailand Incident, CuteDrunks! Jimin & Jungkook, Dependable! Seokjin, Depressed! V, Indulgent! Suga, K-Politics, Netizens, Sajaegi, Supportive! J-Hope, Worried! RapMon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:31:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaraMerald/pseuds/NaraMerald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How would BTS change if they were a coed group?<br/>Or: BTS do a Trouble Maker inspired sexy concept. Netizens accuse them of sajaegi. Namjoon worries that it’s true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	School of Tears

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously this fic is inspired by real life events but there are significant changes according to my coed universe. 
> 
> This actually comes 4th in the series- I just haven't finished 3 yet!

The moment that they’ve been waiting for, been working so hard for, has finally come. They clutch that glorious black trophy from The Show and Namjoon’s heart has never been so full; the members clustered around and honestly he always knew they would get there. 

Yoongi had worried, had fretted that despite all their work, a coed pop-hip-hop group would never make it. That plastic with its “The Show” logo proved she was wrong. She was nearly in tears, and Namjoon’s never seen her cry. 

The win, their first win, is validation. 

For Yoongi and Namjoon who had left the underground to shoot for their dreams, Namjoon criticised for being ugly, Yoongi for being genderless, both of them for “selling out”. 

For Hoseok, who’d left his dance team and spent half his life in training to be called “ugly” and who’d had that half-hearted campaign to try and cut him, as they had ‘one extra boy’, the ‘unnecessary one”.

For Seokjin who’d bravely chosen that other path, taking the chance to be an idol instead of an actress, who was accused of being ‘talentless’, unable to sing, unable to dance. 

For Jimin, who joined so late and practised so hard, determined to be his best- who was accused of not being able to sing well enough, of getting plastic surgery, of not even being tall enough for the girls in his own group. 

For Taehyung, who enthusiastically gave her all and bravely let her true personality shine through, - who was actually discussed by other idols on TV shows as being ‘too weird to be attractive’ or girlfriend material. 

For Jeongguk, who gave it his all and threw his lot in with them, who was practically the face of BTS, sexualised by the company and obsessed over by so many fans before he even had a girlfriend, whose shoulders sagged under the weight of what it meant to be the golden maknae who could sing, rap and dance. 

Namjoon stood with a blinding smile, arms around Jeongguk and Hoseok clutching that trophy and for a night, one night, he let himself believe… they made it. 

 

… 

 

They stay in that night and Manager-Nim looks the other way when they smuggle in cheap beer and soju, and they start shotting. 

“To Leadermon!” they salute first, and Namjoon knows he’s blushing, but damn it is a privilege, sometimes a burden but always a privilege to be the leader of BTS. “To Leadermon…” they stall a little here and Namjoon raises an eyebrow. 

“May he destroy everything in his path!” Taehyung announces. 

“What? No. NO. Why Tae?” Seokjin tries to correct hurriedly, desperately touching wood, crossing herself and every other superstition she can manage. 

“TO LEADERMON!” The rest chime dutifully, “MAY HE DESTROY EVERYTHING IN HIS PATH.” 

This is… significantly less flattering than when he imagined their celebratory toasts but he supposes that’s life. He snickers slightly as Seokjin, who hates the taste of most alcohol, makes a rather unattractive face. He then takes up the shot glass and decides to run with this awful theme they have going. 

“To Seokjin-noona,” he pauses, “…may she one day become a rapper.” Jeongguk looks like he’s choking as they all dutifully repeat this and then shot. 

Seokjin turns to Yoongi. 

“To my dongsaeng Yoongi, may she secretly enjoy all our future sexy concepts,” Seokjin winks at Yoongi’s scowl, before waggling her eyebrows playfully. 

“Yeah Seokjin-unni!” Taehyung cheers, and they all take another shot. 

“To my dongsaeng and eternal sunshine Hobi, may the sun literally shine out of your arse,” Yoongi snarks, and Namjoon can hear Taehyung whisper to Jimin “Picture that. Like actually imagine that…” and Jimin groaning and pushing her away. 

“To my dongsaeng Chim Chim!” Hoseok declares, and Jimin cheers a little, “May he improve his abs even more so we can use him as an actual washboard,” which only encourages Jimin to lift his shirt up.

“Put it away Jiminnie!” Yoongi groans. 

“No way! Take it off Chim Chim!” Tae crows and Jimin cocks his fingers into a gun and points sleazily at her. 

“Hyung, you’re so lame,” Jeongguk complains. 

“You love it Kookie!” Jimin turns to ‘fire’ at him and Jeongguk just shakes his head. 

There’s a brief pause and some quick debate when they remember that Tae did Namjoon, so Jeongguk gets to do Taehyung and Jimin will do Jeongguk. 

“To my dongsaeng Jeonggukkie, may you grow to be ever more cool like your Hyung and Noona,” Jimin indicates he and Tae, and then has the gall to be offended when everyone repeating it aside from Taehyung indicates someone other than Jimin and Taehyung.

Jeongguk seems to consider his words for a moment, and maybe at this stage they’re all a bit tipsy, because 6 shots in 20 minutes is no joke, and finishes with “To Taehyung-noona, may you escape arrest for future indecent exposure!” 

The reactions are mixed: “Jeongguk!” “Kookie!” (Outraged) “Ha ha yeah Kookie!” “Sick!” (Approving) “Nooooo…” (Denial)

It should come as no surprise that Jimin and Taehyung are those in approval. Namjoon wonders what his life is that he contemplated actually being hopeful about that not happening. 

Seokjin has stopped even twitching as she downs the Soju (warning sign number one), Hoseok has knocked over a shot glass (warning sign number two), Taehyung has become even more animated, Jimin and Jeongguk’s eyes are fairly glassy and Yoongi’s actively relaxing and she gets cute when she’s mellow. 

Her eyes crinkle, she smiles more and she tends to unconsciously relax into more ‘girly’ moves she guards against when sober and awake. She’s resting her chin in her hand, biting her lip (warning sign number 3). Namjoon realises Bangtan are tipsy, if not drunk. Still, their next show isn’t for another day, so tomorrow is a sleep in. Namjoon allows them a few more drinks.

Their cheers of “We made it!” echo in the dorms, and he feels warm happiness welling up, that they did it, that this will be one of his precious memories forever. They may or may not all kiss the trophy at this point. (“Jeez Tae, you’re practically tonguing that thing, pass it on already!”) 

At the end of the night, Seokjin allows Taehyung to ‘help’ her put Hoseok to bed and tuck him in, making it easier for her then to corral Taehyung to her bed afterwards. Namjoon picks up a semi-conscious maknae, eyes drooping and looking fairly confused while Yoongi attempts to manhandle a very cuddly Jimin. 

“Yah Jiminnie, you’re too heavy! You can’t just leap on me!” Yoongi slurs slightly, but nearly all of the girls hold their liquor better than the boys. Hoseok is a lightweight, and Jimin and Seokjin aren’t much better- Jeongguk’s only this bad because he kept on drinking. 

“I love you noona,” Jimin announces, and Namjoon laughs. Hearing it, Jimin turns to Namjoon “I love you hyung!” and Yoongi and Namjoon laughingly reply “I love you too!” 

“What about me?” Jeongguk actually sulks, and Namjoon sincerely hopes he remembers it in the morning because he’ll be mortified. 

“We love you too Jeonggukkie,” Yoongi assures him, before shielding her eyes with a yelp as Jimin starts to haphazardly strip off. 

“Park Jimin!” Namjoon snickers and Yoongi keeps her eyes closed until Namjoon assures her they’re in bed. 

“I want a kiss goodnight!” Jimin decides.

“Oh my god,” Yoongi laughs quietly to Namjoon, “We are appa and omma.” 

She adjusts their blankets minutely, and gesturing for Namjoon to start with Jeongguk, she kisses Jimin on the forehead, wishing him goodnight as gently as he’s ever heard her speak. Affectionately, he does the same for Jeongguk, who may already be unconscious. Then they swap, and he hears a soft “Night!” as they shut the door. 

Smiling fondly, she can hear Seokjin still cajoling Taehyung into bed. 

“We did it,” she says to him, in a kind of innocent awe, like he’s never seen her. Then she’s pulling him into a hug, surprisingly soft for the hard front she puts up and whispering again “We made it!” and kissing him on the cheek quickly before they finally call it a night. 

And as he falls asleep, he remembers their cheers, shuts out his fears and he mulls over the words “We made it!”

 

… 

 

The next day is an unpleasant wakeup call, and not just because of the hangovers. 

Unfortunately, ‘making it’ is a contradictory term. Namjoon knew there’d be haters. Every group had haters, even Big Bang, TVXQ, hell, Tupac had his haters and the man was a legend. 

Big Hit and Manager-nim had warned him the more successful they became, the more their worries increased. They’d blocked the girls, especially Seokjin from getting a boyfriend. They’d warned him he had to watch Yoongi; make sure she didn’t swear in public. 

Taehyung had to run that fine, impossible line between being interesting, entertaining and 4D and not being rude according to some random netizen who wasn’t even present for events. Watch Jeongguk, they told him, because Jeongguk was so young and the pressure so strong that all of them could break. As the youngest, he was a prime target. 

Sometimes the weight on his shoulder settled like an unwelcome burden, torn between Big Hit’s expectations and being a friend and bandmate. He wasn’t their jailor, but he was expected to keep them in line. It was on him, if Jimin slapped Taehyung’s arse and was found to be impolite or obscene. It was on him, if Seokjin was caught holding another man’s hand, any man. Or even making eye contact. Or any number of things. 

Yoongi had ranted for weeks about the double standards- sure, on the surface, the dating bans were the same. Initial ban until 25, to be reconsidered when their contracts were up. But Seokjin’s continued friendship with Kidoh was to be hidden at all times, Hoseok’s could be seen. Hoseok and Namjoon could party late but not with Seokjin or Yoongi (and really, as good girls, they shouldn’t be partying late either, not in the clubs Namjoon and Yoongi were interested in visiting, with the underground culture).

Up until the sexy concept, the girls and boys were encouraged to remain separate and to not be so touchy-feely (and hadn’t Yoongi been furious at that convenient turn around). Taehyung had of course, bent those rules (broken them? Smashed them?) from the start, but even she was careful in public. 

He realises Jimin has entered without his notice, and looks up. Jimin’s posture is slumped. He doesn’t look hungover (he never seems to be), but he’s not happy. 

He sighs, and looks at Jimin, holding his phone in distress. “Hyung, they’re accusing us of Sajaegi.” 

“What?! Damn…” Namjoon sighs, before rallying. 

“We know it’s bullshit,” he begins, wanting to erase the creases on Jimin’s face. Sajaegi… it’s a nasty surprise, and one he knew Big Hit had hoped to avoid. Many groups had these accusations. 

“Yeah,” Jimin says quietly, and Namjoon knows his response was not enough. Luckily, Namjoon has a few pre-rehearsed strategies from the bad times, some courtesy of Big Hit, some just by anticipation. 

“Jimin-ah, aren’t you happy?” Namjoon teases, and Jimin looks confused. 

“Happy? Why?” Jimin clearly thinks he’s crazy, and now Namjoon has to sell this and he has to sell this well. 

“We got our first haters! We’re finally famous Park Jimin! You gotta have haters to be swag!” Namjoon makes a ridiculous gesture, and Jimin laughs incredulously. 

“Fuck yeah, fuck our haters!” Namjoon punches his hand in the air and Jimin can’t resist for long, he’s caught up. 

“HA! We have haters!” He laughs. 

“Isn’t it crazy? How many years ago we were nobody!” Namjoon ignores the slight twinge as he thinks of being nobody. Maybe it’s an attractive idea to others- but this has always been Namjoon’s goal and he’s not about to back down now, haters or not. 

“Fucking… let’s have a haters party!” Jimin declares, and runs out to gather the others. And maybe Seokjin and Yoongi are watching a little carefully, (both hungover and resenting the maknae line for not getting hungover) but the maknae line are 100% on board with the ‘hater party’, and if Hoseok is concerned he’s not showing it. 

They have a celebratory “We’ve got haters!” lunch, and Yoongi and Seokjin help him to steer the conversation away from Sajaegi any time it ventures into dangerous territory. Then they burst into another unofficial cypher, with Seokjin, Jimin and Taehyung bringing the laughs as usual. 

“Yah Park Jiminie, what are you doing?!” Yoongi shakes her head in despair. 

“Why do Seokjin-noona and Tae never get this criticism?” Jimin whines. 

“Because we’re just more talented than you Chim Chim,” Taehyung says without an ounce of shame, and everyone’s jaw drops. 

“Noona that’s debatable…” Jeongguk mutters. 

“Jealousy will get you nowhere Kookie!” she winks at him. 

“Stop flirting with maknae,” Yoongi sighs. 

“Jealousy will get you nowhere either unni!” Taehyung chirps back. 

“She’s a monster,” Seokjin stage-whispers to Namjoon. 

“Ha, FlirtMon,” Hoseok grins. 

“I like it,” Taehyung is entirely too approving of the new “Mon” line. 

By the time Yoongi teases Jimin and Jeongguk about getting a kiss goodnight, it’s chaos and the whole afternoon devolves from there. 

 

… 

 

Seokjin and Yoongi corner him later while the young ones are watching anime. Hoseok quietly drifts over, keeping an eye on maknae line to make sure they’re not overheard. 

“What’s the deal man?” Yoongi gets straight to the point. 

“Look, we think it’s bullshit. I haven’t heard back from Manager-nim or Big Hit, but they’ll have to deny it,” Namjoon reasons. 

“It’s not the truth, is it?” Seokjin asks quietly, and he sees Hoseok look bitter and Yoongi tense up. Hoseok’s been in the industry long enough to wonder, but Yoongi was so happy about this win… 

To Yoongi and Namjoon… this is more than the win. This is validation. If it’s true… it would be a devastating blow. 

“I don’t think so?” Namjoon offers, wishing he could be more certain. 

“It’s a valid tactic,” Hoseok comments quietly, and Yoongi’s head whips around to glare daggers. 

“I’m not advocating it, I’m just saying… it works…” Hoseok clarifies dully. 

“Crayon Pop?” Seokjin suggests, and Namjoon hadn’t realised she’d been paying that much attention. He remembered accusations of Sajaegi had occurred but not really listened to whom at that point. 

“Did they though?” Yoongi asks sourly. 

“Who knows? They underwent a meteoric rise. If they did, it was a smart idea at the time because they got huge immediately after…” Hoseok comments and Seokjin nods. 

“Sistar were accused a lot too,” Seokjin muses. 

Yoongi, like him, is disgusted at the thought that they could buy a win, buy talent, want to buy that. Her mouth scrunches even further into a deep scowl, brows drawn down in consternation. He agrees with her. If BTS are going to win, he wants them to win on their own. 

“Hey man… for what it’s worth… I think we got there on our own. You know our International Fanbase is massive,” Hoseok offers, and they muse on that in silence for a moment. 

“Ask Big Hit,” Yoongi grunts, and then walks off, and there’s not much more to be said, really. 

 

…

 

Big Hit deny sajaegi. Namjoon thought he’d feel relieved, but he still feels this odd uncertainty, like there’s something not quite right, something chipping away at his happiness. 

After all, Big Hit would hardly tell them if they did. 

The one silver lining in all this is their rather honest statement: Big Hit aren’t big enough to be able to afford Sajaegi. It’s this statement that cheers them all up, gives them hope, allows them to move on and eventually, the furore dies down. 

 

… 

 

They win again. MNet Countdown marks their second trophy, and in the heat of the moment, Namjoon forgets about the accusations, forgets about the haters and just revels. He doesn’t think about the promises they made to the fans, doesn’t notice anything abnormal, doesn’t notice the absolute shitstorm about to descend on them. 

It starts with Jimin’s tears, really, and goes downhill from there. Behind his back, as he gratefully accepts the trophy, Jimin is crying and Taehyung is feeling playful. She mocks him in the universal aegyo-fist crying pose, captured by a thousand cameras including MNet Countdown’s.

And that’s when shit really goes south. Because standing right behind them? That would be Baek Yerin of 15&, and that would be the group who went up against them that night and lost. 

BTS don’t for a second sense their impending doom; have no idea anything has happened and go home triumphant, already discussing their promises to fans regarding winning and wanting to see what the fans will come up with. They’d promised that they’d select one of the fans’ ideas as a reward for every award they won. 

They go home, they have group hug, and then they go to bed, because they have a full schedule tomorrow and they have to be up early. 

The internet explodes overnight, and by morning, everything has changed. 

 

… 

 

“Kim Namjoon, get up.” 

Manager-nim’s voice wakes him, low and urgent and far too early. 

“Wha-?” Concern and sleep make his voice rough. Confused and worried, he follows as they head into the room Manager-nim uses for an office slash bedroom when he’s at the dorms. 

“You need to read this,” their manager says seriously, bringing up a webpage on his shitty laptop and Namjoon’s heart stops. He looks at the page and wants to close his eyes again. 

“BTS V TAUNTS BAEK YERIN!” 

“15% DISRESPECTED”

“BTS V RUDE OR MISUNDERSTOOD?” 

The headings alone are terrifying, but then manager-nim plays the video. Namjoon wants to curse. From MNet’s official camera, it’s not clear that V’s actually looking at BTS’ Park Jimin. 

“Shit,” Namjoon curses. 

“It gets worse,” Their manager says glumly, and clicks into another screen. 15&’s labelmates, 2PM have stepped into the fray. Sometimes Namjoon fucking hates bloody Nichkhun, and today he’s just seeing red. 

“NICHKHUN SAYS BTS V SHOULD APOLOGISE FOR DISRESPECT TO 15& YERIN”. 

Immediately Namjoon remembers the situation with Block B; how his hyung Zico had to shave his head, the pain the group suffered over their strategy of acting badass and then being mistranslated.

Nichkhun’s comments then had blown the story up and Block B gained more haters than fans practically overnight. He’d felt sympathetic for the Zico he knew from the underground scene. Woo Jiho was a strong man and Zico a good rapper- to see him reduced to tears and shaving his head was painful.

Namjoon feels like crying at the thought of all 2PM’s fans jumping on Taehyung. If Netizens’ hate could do that to Jiho… Taehyung… oh fuck.

“Shit. Does she know?” Namjoon suddenly asked, needing to grab their phones, needing to block the internet… needing to turn back time. 

“Who knows… your schedule for today is suspended. You’ll still be on the music show tonight, but we’ll use today to prep. Wake the members up… it’s time for damage control.” 

 

… 

 

It’s pretty fucking heartbreaking telling the others. It’s right up there in his “list of shit leader experiences” with the time Hunchul and Ikje left before debut, the time Yoongi was rushed for surgery and the time Sasaengs got into their old dorms. He hasn’t got time to warn Seokjin, but everyone can read his body language. They know shit’s gone down. 

He doesn’t think there’s any point in sugar coating it, so he doesn’t. 

“When the awards were filmed last night it looked like Taehyung was taunting Baek Yerin. Netizens are saying Taehyung was rude.” 

He sees Taehyung go white, shocked and horrified. She makes a sort of aborted motion, like she wants to bring her hand to her mouth but never made it. 

Hoseok’s trademark smile has vanished, and Yoongi has her eyes closed. Seokjin is still looking at him. 

Jeongguk’s eyes are wide in his classic shocked look, but Jimin is grimmer- reaching back to hold Taehyung’s hand. 

“What’s the reaction like?” Seokjin asks calmly. 

“Nichkhun made a comment,” Namjoon begins, and hears Yoongi swear, because like him, she followed the Block B saga almost religiously. Taehyung doesn’t understand what he means, but Seokjin does, he can see it in her face. 

“Nichkhun commented negatively about you. The online reaction is not good right now,” Namjoon announces heavily. Hoseok looks sick. Taehyung looks even sicker. She’s barely moving, barely breathing. 

“At this stage we’re still going to perform tonight, but our immediate schedules have been cancelled. Big Hit is trying to do damage control, but we have to be careful. No one goes online until I say so,” Namjoon orders. 

He doesn’t think it will help- they’ll get online and they’ll be broken down by the endless stream of judgemental netizens. But what can he do? 

“Is… is anyone on our side?” Jimin asks tentatively. Namjoon doesn’t know, but at this point Manager-nim is off of his most recent call and steps back in. 

“A.R.M.Y. are defending, but we don’t want to get a record of being in fan wars like EXO-L. Additionally the JYP fandoms are upset,” he announces. 

“More importantly… has anyone made any negative comments about 15& in the past?” he says urgently. 

BTS shake their heads rather bewildered. 

“I like them,” Seokjin says quietly. 

“Has anyone made remarks about our Park Jimin that could be misconstrued?” their manager continues, and honestly, they’ve all made so many that it’s an impossible question to answer. 

“Have any of you ever referred to our Park Jimin as a girl? Negatively?” Manager-nim looks around and sees Hoseok’s eyes widen in comprehension. 

“Are you kidding? Yoongi would have our heads,” Jeongguk admits, and for a second it’s almost funny how warily he glances at her. 

“Thank fuck for being a coed group,” Manager-nim swears, (in direct contrast to the “Fuck managing a coed group” Namjoon overheard from him during their last comeback) before he looks back at them. 

“Don’t swear. It’s bad,” he immediately says, and none of them even have the heart to comment on his hypocrisy. 

 

… 

 

The long day gets more awful. He knows the elders will have checked their phones and tries, along with them, to monitor the younger ones, but without taking away their phones, it’s pointless. He doesn’t want to punish them any more than they’re already likely to be punished by others, or punishing themselves. 

Hoseok is sticking close to Taehyung, and he notices Yoongi hovering near Jimin, Seokjin a step behind Jeongguk. He doesn’t even have time to be grateful for having such a great team, before he’s pulled into more meetings.

He asks their manager if it’s even worth them performing, seeing how Bangtan feel like they’re treading on glass. Big Hit insists they perform, even if Seokjin and Hoseok quietly fear that their continued appearances will make things worse. They have no choice. He feels like the world’s biggest dick when he tells them to start getting ready. 

“No one comments except me,” He reminds them. Namjoon’s under strict instructions, has been prepped on what to say. Even if she wanted to, Taehyung’s only allowed to open her mouth and sing their words. They’ve changed to a sadder, b-side track for tonight, because good as they are and hard as they try, no one is going to be acting well enough to sing their title track tonight. Maybe not for a while. 

Namjoon sighs heavily, bundles the quiet members into the van and gets in the front grimly. 

 

… 

 

The other idols stare at them. 15& are here tonight but the music show has taken care to place them very separately. Namjoon runs into 15&’s Park Jimin outside in the hallway and for a split second, they stare at each other, shocked. 

“We are very sorry for the controversy we caused. Taehyung was joking with BTS Park Jimin, not at Baek Yerin Sunbae-nim. We are deeply sorry,” Namjoon says formally, quickly rushing the words out and bows low. 

15& Park Jimin stares for a moment, wordless, and Namjoon straightens up awkwardly. 

“Thank you for your apology,” Jimin Sunbae-nim says slowly, making it difficult to judge her reaction. It’s clearly all he’ll get, so he quickly retreats to BTS’ room and informs the others, repeating the instructions that they not speak. 

The stage is awful, none of the members having to fake their desolation as they sing their depressing love song. Taehyung looks like she’s about to cry the whole time, and stands as still and silent as he’s ever seen her on stage, hanging to the back and generally trying to disappear. Hoseok, Seokjin and Jimin are trying to do fan damage control, pasting smiles on their faces, but Jeongguk’s never been a good actor and just looks sort of blank. 

That night, Hoseok tries to cheer Taehyung up by showing her A.R.M.Y. trending “#TaehyungYourePerfect” but all it does is produce a smile that may as well be mechanical, a sort of horrifying drag upwards of her lips. Their 4D alien has disappeared and left a soulless robot in her place, and Namjoon feels guilty because right now, in terms of BTS’ interests, it’s for the best. The public need to see her repent, need their pound of flesh, and for her to be her normal bouncy self right now would sink them. He feels like shit for thinking it.

The mental clash between Namjoon the leader and Namjoon the friend leaves him drained, and he’s relieved when they all go to bed early, Seokjin giving him a nod as she and Yoongi turn in when Taehyung does. He hopes the Bangtan Sonyeodan line can give Tae the comfort he can’t right now. 

 

…

 

It’s Seokjin’s idea to take to management that Taehyung apologise publically via twitter. Taehyung is happy to do this, in so much as she’s happy about anything these days. Hoseok, Seokjin and Jimin seem to be taking turns to hover around her, as Yoongi watches Jeongguk for him and Namjoon just tries to keep them afloat, often Big Hit’s go-between. 

Surprisingly, the suggestion is cautiously approved, although they all know if it backfires, they’ll be in even deeper shit. Taehyung, Yoongi and Seokjin spend an age revising the apology before they’ll even let Namjoon see it, and then Big Hit have to approve it. 

Taehyung prepares an apology tweet and video, wearing black, bowing as she addresses Baek Yerin and apologises for the misunderstanding. She finishes it off with “15&, Fighting!”, and then they hold their breath as it sends. All they can do now is wait. 

 

… 

 

They say bad luck comes in threes, and Namjoon’s sure cursing their luck now. Apparently, shit wasn’t bad enough before, now they’re accused of Sajaegi again. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Namjoon says, and he’s so sick of this bullshit that he’s almost hysterical. 

As he reads on with increasing concern, he looks at their numbers feeling sick. They’re right in that the number jumps are so sudden- so… unrealistic. He sees the screenshots of enraged netizens and even he begins to wonder. 

If it’s all fake… what do they even have? 

It’s another quiet few days in the dorm, as Bangtan sing, dance and survive on autopilot. They mumble their way through an uninspiring fan signing, thankfully a short one, and retreat back to the dorm to lick their wounds. 

He doesn’t know what to feel when he gets a private Kakao from Zico simply saying “Fighting”.

 

… 

 

They do less award shows, and watch more Disney movies than Namjoon will ever admit. (He knows all the words to every Mulan song ever now.)

After 2 weeks of hell, even A.R.M.Y. are feeling battered. They’re still valiantly defending and Namjoon loves them for it, because they’re all BTS have right now. He’s too anxious and ashamed to discuss the situation with his family, so he’s just been stewing over it. 

He divides his time awkwardly, less time in meetings now that they’re playing the waiting game, and just chilling with the elder line or occasionally sneak-hugging the maknae line as the elder line have taken to doing. It seems to cheer Jimin up, whose always been affectionate, and the faux-outrage and protests of Jeongguk help anchor the kid in non-popstar reality. 

It breaks his heart when he and Yoongi joined surprise Taehyung in a hug and the best they get is a sort of watery smile. It looks weakly half genuine and half put on to try and comfort them, as if they’re the ones who need it. Jimin has been gold, gently teasing Taehyung, and Jeongguk tries, but he’s just not so naturally perceptive about how to react in this kind of situation. 

Hoseok of course, is golden and gentle and sometimes Taehyung just cuddles into him in silence. Yoongi and Seokjin are an endless source of strength and Namjoon’s so glad; pre-debut he’d heard nightmares about bitchiness in coed groups (not just the girls, either) and everyone has just been… surprisingly mature about this. 

He gets a hint that things are looking up when Jackson sends him a text. 

“JYP talkin bout how to respond. don't worry- no 1 really thinks V was rude to Yerin”

Namjoon looks out the window and hopes like hell this shit will all be resolved soon. 

 

… 

 

Honestly, Namjoon’s never been so relieved when Baek Yerin finally makes her reply to Taehyung to agree/ forgive that she was taunting BTS’ Jimin not 15&. It’s further smoothed over when Taehyung offers to take her out to lunch, and the two tweet a picture with Taehyung grinning widely adding “15& Baek Yerin the most forgiving friend! <3” and Yerin tweeting “BTS / 15% future play date?!” with a sweet smile. 

(Nichkhun, Namjoon notes idly, keeps his fucking mouth shut this time.) 

Even though Big Hit is technically a separate company, it makes sense for JYP to keep stop their artists from fouling each other, so managers and companies were happy to give the go ahead for the apology date. 

Another pleasant, unlooked for surprise is the revelation of the data that led to their second chart manipulation accusation- that all the data from international sales was mass entered at once, leading to sudden rises and the appearance of Sajaegi. 

Namjoon isn’t dumb enough to believe everyone’s convinced, but he is, Yoongi is, BTS is, A.R.M.Y. is, and that’s enough for him today. 

He should be happy- should be elated that their problems are solved, that they’ve been vindicated. All he feels is tired and drained. 

Namjoon trudges back to the dorm, ready to sleep for a year. This has been his trial by fire as a leader. He’s just happy they’ve survived. 

 

… 

 

Bangtan sleep in, most of their schedules still cancelled before their tour, and when Namjooon lopes into the kitchen, Hoseok is grinning like he knows a secret. 

Jimin wanders into the kitchen and Seokjin is already making breakfast for them. 

“What’s up?” Namjoon asks cautiously. 

“You know… we promised our fans we’d fulfill their requests for each win… we never did that…” Hoseok begins. 

Namjoon blinks, not even having considered that while he was lurching from crisis to crisis. 

“Huh…” Namjoon muses intelligently. It’s far too early in the morning. 

“Sweet! What were the requests?” Jimin pipes up. 

“We are not doing strip teases!” Yoongi interjects hurriedly, stumbling into the kitchen and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. (It’s vaguely adorable, but Namjoon wants to live another day so he doesn’t mention it.) 

“You sure? Fans are missing out on this suga!” Taehyung’s voice carries out, and something in Namjoon relaxes a little at the sound of her voice. She’s not quite back to normal, but she’s getting there. 

“I’m gonna regret saying this, I know I am…” Namjoon begins, “But it’s good to have you back, FlirtMon.” 

The look Taehyung gives him is simultaneously reward and punishment enough, even when Seokjin only hears the first part and freaks out and starts yelling in the kitchen. 

“NO stripping!” she shrieks, loudly enough to wake Jeongguk who staggers out, looking like he thinks she’s gone crazy.

Namjoon grins. Bangtan’s back.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I’m Australian. Drinking culture, anyone? You may have noticed this theme in my writing. Also in my actual real life ;)
> 
> Off topic, was Zico in Dae Nam Hyup? Was trying to find out because I know he and Rap Mon did a track together pre-debut but the details weren’t clear from what I could find?
> 
> Also, Rap Mon’s opinion of Nichkhun is my personal opinon, but his opinion of Zico is fiction. I don’t deny Block B can be dicks sometimes (Zico, stop being homophobic. You’re killing me here. BBC but not if you’re a jerk) but I thought some of the shit they copped for Thailand was a little unfair and Nichkhun wading in without taking the time to consider the issue of their stage persona plus translation just compounded that shit. I’ve always had a bit of a grudge against him since. Then again, that was when I was still relatively light in the Kpop fandom, so perhaps I didn’t consider the issues of importance of politeness? Either way, I have a love (Running Man!) hate (Incident!) relationship in my feelings for Nichkhun. 
> 
> Also, as mentioned in the foreword, this fic actually comes 4th in the series but I finished it before “No one’s (BTS) Bitch” which will come 3rd in the series. Look forward to hearing from Jeongguk next! I do have tentative ideas for Seokjin’s and Hoseok’s (they’ll take a little more planning still tho), before I retire the “BTS do a sexy concept: ” tag! Also, sucks for Rapmon to get pretty much no romance. 
> 
> Off topic, what were people’s thoughts on ‘Bang Bang Bang’? 
> 
> Hit me up Gs.


End file.
